M. Roy Wilson: Suit against Wayne State University is without merit

Apr. 26, 2014

Wayne State University's Old Main / Mary Jane Murawka via Wayne State University

Written by

M. Roy Wilson

Detroit Free Press guest writer

M. Roy Wilson

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Last week, several news media outlets, including the Free Press and Detroit News, reported on a lawsuit filed by a former Wayne State University employee, Christian Kreipke, who was fired for research misconduct.

Apparently, he and his attorney claim he was dismissed for accusing the university of misusing research funds. We issued a short statement in response, but declined further comment because we had not yet been served with the complaint. As of now, we still have not been served and must rely on what the media has shared with us to form a response.

The reporting has led some people in the community to assume the allegations reported in the media must be true. This has cast an undeserved shadow on our university and has harmed our reputation.

Having now reviewed a copy of the complaint provided to us by the Free Press, our preliminary conclusion is that there is no substance to the suit. For example, five of the six grants discussed by the plaintiff were simply grant applications that the plaintiff himself helped prepare. The applications were never funded, making it impossible for fraudulent spending to have occurred. For the one grant that was actually funded, federal auditors performed an audit and there were no findings or recommendations; the audit was completely clean.

In addition to Wayne State’s own scientific misconduct investigation, this former Wayne State employee was also investigated by the Federal Office of Research Oversight, which imposed a 10-year ban on further grant funding to him by the Veterans Administration. He has challenged his termination from Wayne State three times and the findings of research misconduct by federal agencies multiple times. Each of these challenges has been unsuccessful. During that time, he never once brought these latest allegations of fraud to the attention of anyone in Wayne State’s administration.

As one of the nation’s top research universities, we work assiduously to ensure every penny of public funds is used appropriately. This diligence has been rewarded by research grants that have contributed to important scientific discoveries. Unfortunately, until the facts are made clear, unsubstantiated allegations by an individual can lead to premature and mistaken judgments.

This case will be decided on facts. So far, the facts have shown that these and prior allegations have no merit. As the arbitrator in one of the hearings involving his termination wrote, the plaintiff’s “credibility has been reduced to zero.”

Should Wayne State be served with this latest claim, we are confident that it will result in dismissal, as have all of his earlier attempts.